We humans are sort of a funny bunch. Many of us love the thrill of the unknown. We like to take a good opportunity whenever it presents itself, even if that may mean changing our plans entirely. Young adults, those in my generation and younger, are notorious for waiting until the last minute to make any firm plans because there’s always the possibility that something better will come along. What’s sort of humorous about this human tendency is the fact that we actually lead happier, healthier lives when there is some order and structure.
Take children, for example. Study after study has shown that kids are happier and perform better in school when they get a good night’s sleep and eat a good breakfast. And children get better sleep when there is a regular nighttime routine to prepare the child for bed. I can tell you from experience that students enjoy school more when expectations are clear and the routine is predictable. If a child knows they need to concentrate on math in the morning but there will be a recess time after that, they will be able to focus better on math, rather than worrying and wondering when recess might pop up.
I imagine that at least to some degree these tendencies continue into adulthood. I, for one, cannot live without my calendar. Certainly, my daily routine varies from day to day and week to week, but as long as I can look at my calendar and mentally prepare for the week ahead, I am fine. Even as there is something within us that enjoys some spontaneity and fun, there is also something innate that craves order and structure.
For generations, the Jewish people had lived under the structure of the Jewish law; it might even be said that they thrived under the law. Paul’s opponents in Galatia tried to build on this human desire for order as they sought to discourage the Galatian Christians from following the gospel preached to them by Paul, and instead to stick with the law. In the midst of something very new and very different, the young Galatian Christians were undoubtedly uncertain about this business of following Christ. They surely wondered what it was to look like, especially since they had watched the Jewish people living under the guidance of the law for many years. And we have clearly seen through Paul’s letter that these new Christians were easily swayed in their early years as they pursued a path forward.
As a matter of fact, if the Galatians were looking for a detailed blueprint of how to order their lives, they might have found Paul’s letter disappointing compared to the teaching of his opposition. By contrast, Paul sketches only a few short strokes in his portrayal of a community guided by the Spirit. And now, having sought to set the Galatian churches straight, Paul brings his letter to a close. And the basic premise of the passage we have heard this morning is that the law might provide order and structure, but only a life led by the Spirit is a true Christian life.
Here’s the thing about a life led by the Spirit—it cannot be contained in some sort of comprehensive instruction manual; it can’t be ordered and structure in any sort of predictable way. If Paul had tried to do that, he would have effectively limited the power of God’s grace and undercut his own argument. Yet, even in the few short strokes of this passage, Paul has given us a remarkably rich account of some traits that might characterize the common life of a Spirit-led community. And it begins with the understanding that life according to the Spirit is not something that can simply be structured according to human expectations.
So what does it mean to live by the guidance of the Holy Spirit? Well, for one thing it is a life lived in community. We modern humans, particularly those of us raised in western culture, place a great deal of emphasis on independence. We can take care of ourselves, we can make it on our own, we don’t need anything or anybody. My sister was the embodiment of such cultural training when we were younger. My parents referred to her often by the nickname, Lindsay “I can-do-it-all-by-myself” Travis. But life in the Spirit is not a life of lonely striving, this is not a life that is restricted to a zone of privacy as so much of a worldly life is; rather, this is a life lived in community. The church, like an extensive family of brothers and sisters, is characterized by the interdependence of its members. And that means that we support one another in times of need, but also that we are willing to confront one another when necessary. This might seem offensive to our individualistic sensibilities, but because we are members of the body of Christ, our common welfare depends on the spiritual health of EACH member, and we all have a stake in helping one another walk faithfully as Christ’s disciples.
But it’s even more than just urging one another on in our growth as disciples. Life led by the Spirit must imitate the life of Christ himself. Paul urges his readers to bear one another’s burdens, which is ultimately a call to each of us to conform our own lives to the self-sacrificial pattern of Jesus’ life. This means, again, we have to set aside our individualism and selfish desires and consider first the interests of others. When we can do that, we are faithfully mirroring the character of Christ, who first loved us and gave himself for us. Paul wants to make clear to his readers that it is through loving service that Christ has brought the law to fulfillment, and so we participate in that fulfillment through our own loving service to one another. It’s easy for us to try and build up barriers against our neighbors, or ladders to elevate ourselves, but life in the Spirit is not possible if it is not a life guided by the cross of Christ, and all the sacrifice that entails.
One day a student ask the famed anthropologist, Margaret Mead, for the earliest sign of civilization in any given culture. We might expect that she pointed to new settlements being established with homes, and crops, and gathering places, or perhaps she identified the beginning of written language. But that isn’t what Ms. Mead identified as the earliest sign of civilization. Instead, she said this: “a healed femur.” She went on to explain to the student that no healed femurs are found where the law of the jungle, or survival of the fittest, reigns. You see, a healed femur shows that someone cared. Someone had to set that bone back into place. And then others had to do that injured person’s hunting and gathering until the leg healed. “The evidence of compassion,” she said, “is the first sign of civilization.”
The life led by the Spirit, life in Christ, is compelled by this basic fact of nature and civilization; the presence of sacrificial compassion. We are at our best when we work together. We are at our best when the needs of others supersede our own. Christ has made the ultimate sacrifice for each of us, and we can do no less than to emulate this generous sacrifice in our own lives. We must show compassion to one another at all times and in all places.
Which leads us to another characteristic of a life led by the Spirit. If we seek to live in community, and if we are guided by sacrificial compassion for others, then we must also reject any sort of rivalry or conflict within the church. Paul’s focus on the clear conflict among the Galatian Christians points to the importance of this aspect of the Christian life. For Paul, the particular conflict in Galatia is a direct result of “sowing to the flesh;” that is, placing confidence not in Christ or the Holy Spirit, but in circumcision and the merely human works of the law. Now we modern Christians may not place any emphasis on circumcision or the works of the law, but I think we are all aware of conflict within our congregations and within the church as a whole. So the question we must ask ourselves today is, “How are we ‘sowing to the flesh’ in our daily life and practices?” Because the truth of the matter is, when we really get down to the heart of this question, I think we will find those places where we have been most resistant to the nudgings and leanings of the Spirit at work in our lives.
So how are we “sowing to the flesh” today? What are the sources of the conflict that need to be obliterated? Perhaps part of the problem is our selfish nature, but I think we need to look at Paul’s warning and consider that there might be other issues going on in our day too. The Galatian church experienced conflict because certain factions were trying to force others to conform to their ways. Is it possible we are trying to force others to conform to our ways? Perhaps the better question is, what are all the practices we are trying to force upon others in their pursuit of Christian faith? Certainly, there is the matter of worship, which is a constant battle within the church these days. But what are the other issues? Politics? Guns? The color of the carpet? The positioning of the furniture? Whatever the practices we cling to, both individually and corporately, Paul would say the result is quite predictable: Wherever the church grounds its identity in fleshly practices, wherever commitment to a “party line” concerning such practices becomes an exclusionary criterion for membership, then the only result we can expect is pure corruption. This is not the abundant life that God has promised us and that Christ has made possible—it is death not only for those who are being excluded, but for us too.
It may seem easier to set up clear rules and regulations to guide our lives as Christians, but the inevitable result is that the rules become our “god,” people are excluded, conflict grows, and chaos and corruption ensue. Instead, we have to “free” ourselves to follow the movement of the Spirit; even as it may lead us into the unknown. And when a community sows to the Spirit, it invests its hopes not in any human standards, but in the common identity given to us in Christ by the Spirit.
Quite simply, if we place our trust in the Spirit, we will discover a more excellent way! Praise be to God!
